Motion and Interaction

Objectives
- Present an overview of mechanics, its branches and scope
- Define position, displacement, average and instantaneous
velocities, speed, and acceleration
- Describe the motion of an object using narrative,
mathematical, and graphical representations
 Physics – The Basic Science
• science that deals with matter and energy and their
interactions.
• deals with the nature of basic things such as motion, forces,
energy, matter, heat, sound, light, and the structure of atoms.
• coverage -- from the smallest subatomic particles to the
entire universe.

Some Branches of Physics

• Classical mechanics - concerned with macroscopic objects
moving at speeds that are much slower than the speed of
light
• Thermodynamics
• Electromagnetism
• Optics
• Modern Physics
Vectors and Scalar Quantities
Scalar Quantities: physical quantities specified completely by a single
number and the appropriate unit
Vector Quantities: physical quantities specified completely by giving a
number of units (magnitude) and a direction

Displacement (vector quantity) (Δ𝑥) -

describes how much an object has
moved and in what direction

Distance (scalar quantity) - total

length of the path traveled
displacement
vector
Average Velocity

O: origin
t1 t2 x1: initial position
x2: final position
x1 x2 t1: initial time
O
Δx t2: final time
Δx: displacement

Dx = x2 - x1
Dt = t2 - t1

x2 - x1 Dx - average velocity
vx = = - the rate at which the object’s position
t2 - t1 Dt changes with time
- unit: meters/second (m/s)
Average Velocity

x2 - x1 Dx - average velocity
vx = = - the rate at which the object’s position
t2 - t1 Dt changes with time
- unit: meters/second (m/s)

Average velocity
- is positive when the object is moving to the positive direction
- is negative when the object is moving to the negative direction

Velocity is a vector quantity!

Instantaneous velocity
Instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a specific instant of time or
specific point along the path.
O: origin
x1: initial position
t1 t2 x2: final position
t1: initial time
O x1 x2 t2: final time
Δx Δx: displacement

Dx dx
vx = lim = (instantaneous velocity)
Dt®0
Dt dt
Instantaneous velocity
- is positive when the object is moving to the positive direction
- is negative when the object is moving to the negative direction
Velocity on an x-t Graph
x x

x2

x1
t t
t1 t2
Instantaneous velocity is
Average velocity is equal to
equal to the slope of the
the slope of the line connecting
tangent (at any given point) on
the points on an x vs t graph.
an x vs t graph.
x2 - x1 Dx dx
vx = = vx =
t2 - t1 Dt dt
Sample Problem
A test car travels in a straight line along the x-axis. The graph shows the
car’s position x as a function of time. Estimate its instantaneous velocity
at points A through G.
v
A x
v
B x
C x
v
D x
v
E x
40 − 20 𝑚 𝑚 v
𝑣𝐴,𝐵 = = 6.67 F x
3−0 𝑠 𝑠
G x
0 − 40 𝑚 𝑚 -20 0 20 40
𝑣𝐷,𝐸,𝐹 = = −40
6−5 𝑠 𝑠
Acceleration
Average acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes
∆𝑣 𝑣2 − 𝑣1
𝑎ത = = - SI unit: 𝑚Τ𝑠 2
∆𝑡 𝑡2 − 𝑡1

Instantaneous acceleration is the acceleration at a specific instant in

time. It is the time derivative of velocity.
𝑑
𝑎 𝑡 = 𝑣 𝑡
𝑑𝑡
Velocity
• describes how a body’s position changes with time
• how fast and in what direction the body moves

Acceleration
• describes how the velocity changes with time
• how the speed and direction of motion are changing
Acceleration
Rules for the Sign of x-Acceleration

If x-velocity is: . . . x-acceleration is:

Positive & increasing: Positive: Particle is moving in
(getting more positive) +x direction & speeding up
Positive & decreasing: Negative: Particle is moving in
(getting less positive) +x direction & slowing down
Negative & increasing: Positive: Particle is moving in
(getting less negative) –x direction & slowing down
Negative & decreasing: Negative: Particle is moving in
(getting more negative) –x direction & speeding up
Straight-line Motion with Constant Velocity

∆𝑥 𝑥 − 𝑥0
𝑣ҧ = =
∆𝑡 𝑡 − 𝑡0

If t0 = 0
𝑥 − 𝑥0
𝑣ҧ =
𝑡
Position versus time (𝑥−𝑡) graph of
a particle under constant velocity 𝑥 = 𝑥0 + 𝑣𝑡ҧ
(position as a function of time)
Straight-line Motion with Constant Acceleration

Velocity versus time (𝑣−𝑡) graph Position versus time (x−𝑡) graph
of a particle under constant of a particle under constant
acceleration acceleration

𝑣 + 𝑣0
𝑣ҧ = (if acceleration is constant)
2
Straight-line Motion with Constant Acceleration
𝑎ത = 𝑎 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 Uniform/constant acceleration

Summary of Kinematic Equations Free Fall

(constant acceleration) motion of an object with a constant
downward acceleration
𝑥 = 𝑥0 + 𝑣𝑡ҧ 𝑚
𝑎Ԧ = −𝑔 = −9.8 2
𝑣 +𝑣 𝑠
0
𝑣ҧ =
2
𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡 Multiflash photo
of a freely falling
1 2 ball
𝑥 = 𝑥0 + 𝑣0 𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡
2
𝑣 2 = 𝑣02 + 2𝑎 𝑥 − 𝑥0